The Contact Group on settlement of the situation in Ukraine did not discuss at today’s meeting in Minsk the issue of deploying an OSCE police mission to Donbass

MINSK, June 1 /TASS/. Martin Sajdik, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group for the Ukraine settlement, has voiced concern with increased incidents of violation of the ceasefire regime and the growing number of casualties in Donbass and has called for bringing all ceasefire breakers to justice.

"The meetings passed against the background of numerous violations of the ceasefire regime and growing military and civilian casualties. I am particularly concerned with civilian casualties, including attacks on unarmed observers," Sajdik said.

"I demand bringing all the violators to justice and calling froe guaranteeing immediate and unrestricted assess of the Special Monitoring Mission in the entire territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions," the OSCE special representative said.

According to him, participants in the security working group discussed possible cessation of military hostilities on the whole and ways of improving the work of the Joint Control and Coordination Center at a meeting on Wednesday.

"The group’s participants worked over concrete options for disengaging forces and creating certain buffer security zones along the entire line of contact," Sajdik said.

OSCE police mission deployment to Donbass not discussed in Minsk

According to the official, the Contact Group on settlement of the situation in Ukraine did not discuss at today’s meeting in Minsk the issue of deploying an OSCE police mission to Donbass.

"We have not discussed it. If the issue is submitted to the Contact Group, we will discuss it," Sajdik said.

Following the latest phone conversation between the heads of the Normandy Four (Russia, France, Germany, Ukraine) on May 24, the press service of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko distributed a report that during the talks the leaders supported the idea to establish in Donbass an OSCE police mission. At that, the final statements by Russia, France and Germany did not voice such statements.

Poroshenko has repeatedly insisted on the necessity to arm the OSCE mission. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has repeatedly made it clear that Moscow does not believe the mission’s mandate should be expanded.

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said in an interview with The Associated Press that the OSCE is considering the possibility to send an armed police mission to Donbass areas controlled by the militia during the holding of local elections there.